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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 18, 1946)
Congress Methods to Be Revamped _ 4 Few Legislators Authors Of Bills They Introduce By BAUKHAGE New» Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street, N.W., Washington, D. C. A bright young railroad executive who has his cum laude in law from ■ lainra university was sitting with me In Burt's the other day. Burt’s is a sort of greenroom for ra dio folk and others who move and speak and have their being in what Is euphemistically referred to as Washington’s Ra dio center. Inspired (or infuriated) by the presence of so many of the few who say so much to so many, my friend launched forth Into a tirade on the respon sibility of the publicist. "You can’t play baseball accord ing to football rules.” he said, shak ing a menacing fist at me, "and that is what Washington officials are doing. You studied political science 30 years ago. I studied it only 20 years ago. And you know perfectly well that the present generation is not following the rules laid down by our founding fathers. You ought to tell the public about it. "Now maybe the principles of our government are wrong. I am not de fending them. But I am saying that we are deserting them. Rule of the majority, a republican form of gov ernment operated by the represent atives of the people, is a travesty, when legislation is jammed through by minorities. And I mean bureaucrats as well as lobbyists." This happened when the senate was neck-deep in the final debate over the OPA and my friend claimed congress was revolt ing against what he called the high pressure methods of the adminis tration. Since the congress was tear ing the administration measure to shreds at that moment I pointed out that while it was true that congress was sore at Stabilizer Bowles for what they called propagandizing, the example was not a very good one. So he proceeded to develop his theme with specific references all tpo familiar to me and my col leagues of the microphone and type writer. Town Seethes With Lobbyists You, too, are familiar with the power of the “pressure boys” as my friend Kenneth Crawford called them in his revealing book by that name. Crawford estimated there were 8,000 active lobbyists in Wash ington when World War II started. There are many more now. Speak er Rayburn said the town was "seething” with them. We all remember the seven-digit sum of money contributed to a cam paign fund which came out of the members’ dues of one great labor union. True, the head of the union later quarrelled with the president whom he had helped elect because the president refused to take his orders. Nevertheless, this example illustrates what "big money” at tempts, and sometimes succeeds In doing. We know, too, that when the en tire economy of the country was locked to a dead center by strikes In two essential industries, coal and transportation, and that when the government Itself gave orders, those orders were disobeyed. Mi nority rule was operating then. Mi nority groups nullified the wishes of the duly-elected representatives of the people. My friend, with all his ve hemence, with his allegiance to management, made no claim that the demands of the railroad men, the coal miners, were unjust. He merely said that in order to obtain what they considered Justice, the powerful leaders of the organiza tions to which they belong were able to play baseball according to foot ball rules—temporarily at least. The theory that the creation of the laws of the land has been taken from the hands of the elected repre sentatives of the people was put forth by Crawford in “The Pressure Boys” seven years ago when he said: “It is improbable that a sin gle important law enacted in the last 10 years has been written by its congressional sponsor or its nominal author. Administration bills are prepared by New Deal ex perts in executive departments. Legislation independently inaugu rated is almost invariably pre pared in the office of a lobbyist. Congress maintains a legislative drafting service which writes bills for committees, but it seldom is called upon by individual legislators for assistance in writing any minor private bills." LaFollette Bill Would Revamp Thomas Mechlin, writing on this subject in the current* Virginia Quarterly Review, touches on the subject of readymade legislation. He tells how a lobby "gets its own staff together and knocks out a bill which the front office would like to see made a law eventually. It then runs the draft over to a large law firm which has one of its members in congress. Although the con gressman cannot personally repre sent the client, the method used in submitting the proposed legislation through the 'body' of the firm takes care of that. ... If the lobby is well-organized, it will exploit high powered publicity from then on out.” I am constrained to admit that much in all of these assertions is true. But I would like to mention three hopeful signs on the horizon, minuscule though they may be. Two were measures introduced but not acted upon in this session of con gress. TTiey will be presented again and have a good chance of passing. One is the LaFollette measure for revamping congress, one provision of which increases the technical as sistance available to members. The second is a bill introduced by Representative Sabath of Illinois, which provides for an all-inclusive investigation of lobbies. Most con gressmen don't like lobbyists and Sabath's bill, as Mechlin admits, was a crystallization of this feeling. The third indication was a resolu tion introduced during the OPA fight by Senator Taylor (D., of Idaho) authorizing the publica tion of a document on how each sen ator voted on every measure. He said that the people are becoming more aware of their political re sponsibilities, that politics is no longer solely in the hands of politi cians. ward-heelers and lobbyists. Congress is sensitive to the need of a restoration of majority rule, but the only real hope lies within the majority itself. Unfortunately, the giant sleeps. *■ *■ *• * South Dakotans Are Visitors Two recent visitors to Washing ton, Mrs. Evelyn Baker and Mrs. James Magee of Custer and Belle Fourche, S. D., can tell their friends back home in the Black Hills region that while they were here they took In three events which might set the tone for all such future events. The ladies, winners of a radio con test to honor women who did their bit during the war years, visited Washington during the week when three top-drawer government offi cials, all close friends of Harry Tru man, were sworn into new jobs. The swearing-in of a cabinet offi cer used to be a rather modest af fair. The swearinee. his family, a few friends, and bis office staff, a few of the press, usually gathered in his new office, and the whole af fair was over in about the time it takes for bride and groom to say "1 do." True, Fred Vinson and Lewis Schwellenbach did travel to Capitol Hill for their inaugurations as ti t as ury and labor secretaries respec tively. But those events occasioned do such hoopla as did the cere monies which made Monday—Tues day — Wednesday Washington news one late week in June. Mrs. Magee and Mrs. Baker and five thousand other spectators, plus the navy band, gathered on the White House lawn to watch Mr Vin son take over his new office as chief justice of the United States; they saw John Snyder’s big moment made bigger when President Tru man strolled from the White House to the treasury portico to watch his St. Louis crony take the oath as head of the treasury department; and they observed tall, young-look ing John Steelman's swearing-in as reconversion director. Having observed these impres sive occasions, the Black Hills visi tors could appreciate the widely whispered remark of Undersec retary of Navy John Sullivan. (Sul livan got his swearing-tn done quiet ly and traditionally on June 18.) As Sullivan congratulated John Steel man after the rose garden cere mony. he asked, "Well, are you the last of the June bridesT" HERE’S TEXAS FLOUR . . . Well, not floor, but the makin’s. Ed Stallwitz, Moore county wheat grower (left), and County Agent J. B. Walde crawl up on a mountain of wheat. Newly harvested wheat has had to be dumped on the ground because the elevators are full to overflowing. NEWS REVIEW Days of ‘Easy Payments’ Said to Be on Way Back CREDIT: Payments Easier The old days of “a dollar down and a dollar every time we catch you" are not back yet, but time or "easy” payments have been liber alized on many items. It is expect ed that charge accounts will con tinue to rise also with relaxation of the 30-day rule under which all bills had to be paid by the 10th day of the second month after purchase. Under regulation W, federal re serve system measure controlling credit, many items have been list ed under group A which required a down payment of one-third and 12 months’ maximum maturity. Attic ventilating fans, automobile bat teries, tires and inner tubes have been removed from group A. Many household appliances are expected to be removed within a short time. Furniture is still under control when sold on credit. RUSS ENVOY: Says No War The new Russian ambassador to the United States, Nikolai V. No vikov, in one of his first statements promised that the Soviet Union "will never start • war against the Unit ed States or anyone else.” While he insisted that all differ ences between the two major pow ers could be ironed out, he cau tioned that solutions for many world problems will require time and pa tience. COMMUNISTS: In State Department Charges of Communism In the U. S. state department is "more a matter of alarm than of fact,” Dean Acheson, under-secretary of state, told the house foreign affairs committee in Washington. He denied that 300 of the state department personnel had been RESIGNS . . . Chester Bowles resigned as economic stabiliser in protest of the OPA extension bill. In a radio address Bowles said the nation owed President Truman a vote of thanks for ve toing the bill. fired because of Communistic lean ings, as intimated by Representa tive Cox (D., Ga.), on the house floor. They were let go for econ omy reasons, he said. Of all the lists submitted by mem bers of congress and other persons, raising the Communist issue against various permanent department per sonnel, he said, accusations against but one employee have been sub stantiated, and this person has been discharged. The employee was not identified. DEGNAN CASE: Killer Found? The entire United States was shocked last January when little Suzanne Degnan was found slain near her home in Chicago. The case proved to be one of the most stub born police, the FBI and others ever attempted to solve. Now, they be lieve they have found the killer. William Heirens must face the music. He faces 21 burglary and 4 assault charges, to say nothing of the evidence piled up connecting him with the kidnap-murder of Su zanne. Heirens, police said, once con fessed the Degnan murder. But more often he steadfastly has denied every crime of which the po lice have accused him. He was a student at the University of Chi cago. ATOM BOMB: And Human Beings The extent of heat damage to some of the more distant parts of the target fleet in Bikini lagoon, where the atom bomb test was made July 1, showed human survival would have been doubtful. Ships a mile from the center of the blast were burned and blackened as though by a tremendous blast fur nace. Anyone on the decks of these ships would have burned to death in an instant, those who inspected the damage believe. While some animals survived on most ships, the fate of human beings might have been different. Studies of animals’ injuries may show whether enough crewmen could have lived through the blast to operate the stricken ship. Making the study is Dr. Carl Compton of the Massachu setts institute of technology. U. S. FILMS: Shown in Paris They were gayer than ever in "Gay Paree” when the first “new" American films to be Imported to France under the terms of the French loan made their appearance. Well, maybe the films weren’t exact ly the latest but— The pictures shown during the opening week included “Citizen Kane,” "Kitty Foyle," “Too Many Husbands" and "Dangerous Adven ture." All are in English with French subtitles dubbed in. The new movies made their ap pearance in the middle of a bitter attack by some French writers on what they termed the "assassina tion" of the French movie indus try. SHADES OF BRYAN Silver Ratio 16-1 May Prevail WASHINGTON.—The senate has tacked a-rider to the post office ap propriations bill which would boost the price of silver to 90.3 cents an ounce for the next two years. After that the treasury may begin buying the white metal at $1.29 an ounce. If the senate bill comes through conference and becomes a law, the oid William Jennings Bryan ratio of 16 to 1 may yet prevail. Before the devaluation some years ago, the price of gold was $20 67 an ounce. One-sixteenth of $20 67 is $1.29. Silver producers of the western part of the United States have al ways resented the old ratio of about 32 to 1, which was the relationship between the two metals when Bryan made his famous “Cross of Gold” speech. New mines had been opened and silver had become more abundant. The silver producers have tried for years to restore the old 16 to 1 ratio which prevailed be fore 1873. The only stickler now is that gold is priced at $35 an ounce. Even if silver advances to $1.29, it will not be up to the coveted 16 to 1 ratio m which westerners believe is the prop er balance in a world where bimet allism is used. While most countries are now off the gold standard, silver is still used in almost every country. In some countries, such as India, nickel and other metals are used. For many years the U. S. treasury did not pur chase silver in quantities sufficient to hold prices up. The silver pur chase act of 1934 was designed to aid the white metal regain some of its old Drestige. ENDLESS ARGUMENTS RAGE World Awaits Second Test of Atomic Bomb r ■ ■—— ■ —1— ...i FIRST BLAST, June 30th. five ■hip* tunk, nine »hip» wrecked, forty-five thipt reported damaged. V ■ ^ THIRD TEST, to bo staged next ^ year Predictions of some who wit ^ netted 1st tost are that all ships — will be sunk within 50 miles of blatt area. SECOND BLAST, m 3 w-k. - ^ Mpt<1 a cru.hing effect on .hip.' -■—~ hull. Great radioactivity in water Giant wave, to .weep over .hip. —~* ond i.land _____ l.t bomb dropped by plana I 2nd bomb to be planted ju.t I under .urfaca of the woter. I 3rd “bathytphere" bomb to I explode ot depth of Hi ft ; By WALTER A. SHEAD WNU Correspondent. ABOARD USS APPALACHIAN OPERATIONS CROSSROADS. — Second or Baker test of the atomic bomb in Bikini lagoon, now tenta tively set for July 25, will be like dynamiting fish in a pond. Lacking will be the glamour of the army air force and precision bombing as the whole thing will be a navy show. The bomb will be submerged some 75 feet beneath the surface in about 30 fathoms of water, 180 feet, and detonated in the midst of the target fleet, which is being regrouped to meet new con ditions of the test. This second test also will lack the drama of the bomb burst and the atomic cloud, which is characteris tic of atomic bombs exploded in air. What is likely to happen is that the intense heat will generate steam in the water and the terrific force will expend a part of its energy in a waterspout with a cloud of steam and vapor shooting into the air. In tent of this test is to measure force of atomic energy upon the hull structure of naval ships spaced at various distances from the center of the explosion. Subs to Submerge. There will not be the visible dam age which was inflicted wholly upon the topsides or superstructures as in the first blast. Since there is to be no ship placed directly above the point of blast, the prediction is be ing made freely that no capital ships will be sunk, although lighter craft may be capsized. Another feature of the second blast is the placing of submerged submarines in the target fleet, and it will be interesting to note the effect of the bomb force upon the steel hulls of these ves sels beneath the water. Naval scientists predict that force of the underwater blast will create waves of sufficient height, possibly 10 or more feet which will sweep over low-lying Bikini island, although this was also forecast in the first blast and did not materialize. Meantime, endless arguments pro ceed as to the degree of damage to the ships, the location of the bomb burst, whether the drop from the plane was a “near miss,” probable loss of life had the ships been manned with full complement, and comparative efficiency of this first Bikini bomb as compared to the bombs at Alamogordo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Precision Bombing. When it is considered that this bomb was dropped from a height of something like six miles and hit within a 1,000-yard circle, this re porter would consider that pret ty good precision bombing. Adm. T. A. Solberg of the bu reau of ships, however, declared that insofar as he could judge, every ship damaged by the bomb, with the exception of the Independence, could be put into fighting shape within two or three months. For the Independence, battered and ripped apart by explosions of her own torpedoes, her ammunition and aviation gasoline and burning for almost two days, it would take about nine months to put her in shape. Also all ships damaged, with the single exception of the Independ ence, towed away and anchored far out in the lagoon, likely could have pulled away under their own steam, had they been manned with crews. Study Effects. In the meantime, Bikini lagoon has been turned into a vast labora tory of science, chief interest be ing the effect of the bomb and its subsequent radiological rays upon the live animals placed aboard the ships at various locations likely to be occupied by the men aboard. Amazingly, only about 10 per cent of the animals were killed by the force of the blast. Some are burned and sick and others may become ill from effects of radioactivity. As a matter of fact, a few already have been destroyed by medical doctors, who are studying this phase of atomic energy in an effort to deter mine how this radioactivity can be used in medicine in treatment of disease. Persons or animals which receive these powerful rays into their sys tems are variously affected and the boarding teams upon these ships are preceded by a traind man carry ing a “Geiger counter," a small box-like apparatus which registers radioactivity by a ticking noise. Estimate Losses. A fleet such as those which com posed the target fleet would normal ly carry approximately 30,000 men. It is reasonable to assume then that approximately 10 per cent, or 3,000 men, would have been killed by the atomic bomb blast and that more would have been injured by radio activity. Whether much of the dam age to ships caused by subsequent fires aboard could have been avert ed had crews been aboard is a moot question. Some ships captains de clare that damage would have been much less had the ship fire-flghting equipment been brought into play, and this seems reasonable in that most of the loss on the Independ ence was due to fire and explosion and not the bomb blast. There is no attempt however on the part of naval authorities to minimize the terrible power of this atomic bomb. No other single bomb ever did the dam age to a fleet that this one did . . . five ships sunk, one com pletely out of commission and approximately 10 others out of action for two months or long er, and small to negligible dam age done to 10 others. However, another atomic bomb likely would not And 73 ships to make up a helpless ghost fleet grouped conveniently like sitting ducks and whether use of the atom ic bomb as an offensive weapon of naval warfare upon ships at sea is militarily sound still is a debat ed question and one which the naval evaluation board wiU study during the next few weeks or months. It must be remembered that what ever is said about this second bomb test before the actual test is in the realm of conjecture, and much of the conjecture made prior to the first test did not materialize. Arkansas May Be Second Target Ship Target ship, or vessel nearest cen ter of the blast, for the second atomic bomb test may be the over age battleship Arkansas, it has been indicated by reliable sources al though no definite announcement has been made by Adm. W. H. P. Blandy, commander of operations crossroads and the joint task force. The carrier Saratoga was first slated to be second target ship. An interesting sidelight on fate of the Saratoga, which suffered only negligible damage in the first test, is that her commander, Capt. Don ald MacMahon, knowing that she was slated for the second target ship made a wager with a friend in Washington, before bringing the ship to Bikini, that he would take her back to the East coast under her own power. It looks now that he has better than a 50-50 chance of winning his bet CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT BUSINESS & INVEST. OPPOR. FOR SALE, Astonishing Bible History of Negro race. Just published, 200 pages, cloth bound, C.O.D. $2.50. 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